The Spider Queen

(Planet Caorn- Jasimin Island)

(Mariena Hotel- Private Penthouse Suite)

"Are you even paying attention to me?" an angry voice echoed through the hotel room.

An elderly Servie mage wearing long green robes flew towards a figure curled up under three layers of blankets.

"Inya Baileyleaf! Listen to me young man!" Archmage Rosemuse sternly spoke as she snapped her fingers.

Runic circles appeared above her palms and the blankets got up from the bed and moved to the nearest chair as if they had somehow come to life.

Beneath the blankets was a pale faced young Servie boy. He was unnaturally slender even for his kind and dark circles could be seen under his eyes.

He looked sickly.

That was the first impression that anyone got when looking directly at his unhealthy figure.

"Ugh... yeah... you said something about... damn... I can't remember..." Inya's voice trailed off as he massaged his temples.

Archmage Rosemuse stomped her feet in anger as she looked at her hapless apprentice.

Inya was one of the most talented young mages that she had ever had the pleasure of training and yet his personality...

Left much to be desired.

"As I was saying..." Archmage Rosemuse took in a few deep breaths and then repeated what she had said before with gritted teeth.

"Your next opponent will be Astrid Lockhart. Don't look down on her because she's a mage from Zrudread University."

"Archmage Hollystorm has made her his apprentice and he is one of the most powerful spatial mages in the Federation."

"If his apprentice has even a fraction of his talent then this match-up could be your most difficult so far."

Inya raised up his head slightly and a spark of interest flashed briefly across his tired eyes. He tilted his wrist communicator upwards and typed in a few words.

A compilation of Astrid's previous fights appeared on the screen in a video format. Inya saved the videos to watch at a later date.

"Well... that's good and all but... what do you want me to do?" Inya turned to his mentor and asked with a clear trace of exhaustion in his voice.

"Train? YOU COULD TRAIN!" Archmage Rosemuse shrieked as her wings rapidly flapped up and down.

"Train? Look master... this is my one day off until the tournament starts back... instead of training... it's better to relax... go with the flow," Inya countered with a small smile.

Archmage Rosemuse placed a hand on her forehead and made a face as though she was suffering from a master headache.

"Fine... do what you want... but you must win your match tomorrow," Archmage Rosemuse let out a heavy sigh and then spoke.

The old Servie mage flew out of hotel room and the door closed behind her automatically with a soft thud.

Inya counted slowly to twenty and then sat up. His pointed ears tilted slightly in the direction of the door as he listened for any noises.

Good.

She had left.

The young Servie male quickly reached into his storage bag and pulled out two vials. Each vial was filled with a dark blue liquid that bubbled slightly.

"Now to relax..." Inya whispered softly.

He unscrewed the top of the first vial and leaned over the glass tube. He took a small sniff of the fumes and could feel his headache slowly disappear.

This was just what he needed.

Inya tilted the vial upwards and downed its contents in one big gulp. His immediate surroundings started to blur as the room began to spin.

The Servie mage leaned back on the mattress and enjoyed the sensations. He felt lightheaded as if he was now one with the universe.

In the grand scheme of things... nothing mattered.

Not the tournament.

Not his powerful magic powers.

He just existed.

He would exist until one day he didn't.

One day he would  be forgotten and then the last trace of his life would finally be gone from this world.

"Fuck... this Vreim Juice... did my dealer lace this one?" Inya muttered slowly as a loopy grin spread across his face.

Then... it was gone.

Oh, the joys of having a high cultivation level. He used to be able to get high for several hours or days but now...

He was lucky if it lasted for a few minutes. His body would now break down drugs extremely quickly.

Inya frowned as he felt the wonderful feeling go away and the massive headache that was pounding his mind returned with a vengeance.

One more... one more...

The Servie boy touched the second vial and then hesitated for a moment. He reached into his storage bag and pulled out three more vials.

He also grabbed an empty bottle.

Inya got to work and poured the contents of each vial inside the bottle and added in some white crystals as well.

He shook the bottle vigorously for a few seconds until the liquid inside began to fizzle and foam ominously.

Nice...

Inya raised up the bottle to his lips and then took several large sips until the bottle was empty once more.

He remained perfectly still as he waited for the effects to hit. Any second now... any second now and he would return to the wonderland.

There it was...

Wait... no...

Inya leaned over the side of the bed and vomited profusely. A foul smelling greenish-black bile splattered across the ground.

He felt as though his head was about to explode as beads of cold sweat erupted out of his pores and his body began to violently tremble.

Inya was incapable of saying anything apart from faint groans of pain as he curled up into a ball and tried to ride out the effects of the drug.

He tried to access his wrist communicator, but his fingers were shaking too much to operate the touchscreen device.

Another burst of pain rocked through his body and Inya opened his mouth to loudly scream.

His fingernails gripped the sides of the mattress with so much force that they cracked.

Bright red droplets stained the white bedsheets and the foul smell coming from the bile on the ground mixed with the coppery scent of blood.

Inya felt as though he was dying. He could somehow sense that his body organs were shutting down.

He mustered up all the strength in his body and slowly but surely managed to crawl his way over the desk on the side of the bed.

There was a small button on the top of the desk that would summon the hotel workers in case the students needed something.

Inya's vision was fading and the world around him was slowly sinking away to darkness.

With the last bit of strength that he had left he managed to slam his trembling fist down on the button.

Then everything turned to black.